Archangel
by BakuhaNoKarei
Summary: Garrus' thoughts immediately before meeting back up with Shepard after 2 years.


This was it, Garrus could feel his time drawing to an end. The merc groups had him pinned down and were relentlessly sending group after group to him. He wasn't afraid. He wasn't planning on surviving, he just wanted to take out as many of those sons of bitches as he could. Another group of awkward freelancers rushed across the bridge and Garrus unloaded a bullet into each of their heads. It was obvious that they were just a distraction and fodder for his bullets, but shooting them gave him something to focus on instead of the thoughts in his head. No, dying wasn't weighing on Garrus right now, the Turian had been dead for all intents and purposes for two years now. Since Shepard died.

Another idiot with a gun fell and Garrus sat back to reminisce. When had he fallen for his commanding officer? No, a better question would be "Why?" While he did not have any animosity toward humans, he certainly didn't have any sort of fetish for them either. He supposed she was attractive for her species. Garrus chuckled softly, No he knew she was attractive. He'd been forced to acknowledge that day after day, the lascivious looks of human males burning through her armor. Still, something about that which made her human was fairly appealing to him. She looked incredibly soft and he'd been given the chance once to test that theory and found it sorely underdeveloped. Commander Shepard was beyond soft, on the batlefield she was hard-bodied and hard willed. She had a stony stare and a rigid frame, when she was relaxed though Commander Shepard was liquid. Garrus pushed his visor back and rubbed his temple. Another group began their rush on the bridge and he made quick work of them as well.

_It was not long into their original mission that Garrus had been given the opportunity to see his commanding officer as a woman. A couple of days had passed since they picked up Dr. T'Soni. They were en route to Feros and were scheduled to arrive late the next evening. Garrus was itching for action. He was terribly bored on the ship going from one place to another. This evening found him sitting in the mess hall trying to force down the sludge prepared for him. His chemical makeup made it difficult for the cook to come up with anything for the Turian since it would be far too dangerous to actually taste the food that would be safe for Garrus. His mandible twitched and he pushed the bowl away. _

_ "That bad huh?" Garrus stood quickly and addressed his commanding officer. "Shepard"_

_ "At ease Garrus." She sat across from him with a glass and a bottle of some sort of red liquid. "Glass of wine, helps me relax and since I don't have to be anywhere in the morning....I thought I would treat myself." Garrus nodded._

_ "Do you drink Vakarian?" Shepard asked after the silence hung over them for awhile. Garrus chuckled and shook his head, "I'm afraid that I'm a bit of a lightweight as you humans say. Turian alcohol is far less potent than your weakest alcohol." The rueful smile of Shepard's face raised a flag with Garrus but he ignored it. "Come on Vakarian, this is wine. A couple of sips will do you some good. Besides, it'll make that food go down smoother." _

_ A short nod was the turian's reply and Shepard filled the glass halfway and pushed it across the table to him. She took a swig from the bottle and smiled, "Not exactly proper, but I only have the one glass." _

_ Garrus hadn't been lying when he said he was a lightweight, but the alcohol wasn't overwhelming him. After a few sips he found himself relaxing, physically and socially. He and Shepard talked for an hour before she stood up. "I believe I am going to head off to the observation deck now Garrus." He had to swallow the disappointment and nodded, "Alright Shepard." "Well, I was going to ask you to join me but-" "I would love to Shepard." Garrus said, standing as well, only barely teetering to the side. He picked up the glass of wine he was still nursing and they crossed to the elevator. _

_ Despite his better judgement, Garrus finished his glass and held his arm out for a refill. "You sure?" He nodded with a silly grin on his face and took a long swallow of the sweet liquid once he received his refill. It was then that he noticed that Shepard's shirt had ridden up and there was a dark mark on her hip. Without thinking he reached out and drew her shirt hem up with his talon. "Humans participate in tribal markings?" he asked, dragging his finger across the dark lines. Part of him was warming at the feel of her soft flesh. "Some do." Shepard supplied and stood up, she pulled her waistband down a bit to reveal the rest of the tattoo. "It was designed by a friend of mine. I got the tattoo when he died in service. This was several months before I enlisted. You have any tattoos Garrus?"_

_ He nodded and clumsily began pulling his chest armor off. Then he drew his undershirt over his head and showed her the massive markings on his back. "It's a turian symbol for balance." Shepard's delicate but calloused fingers ran over the thick blue lines and Garrus felt a purr rumble in his chest at her touch. "It's beautiful." He smiled contentedly and pulled his shirt back over his head and sat down. Turning to face her again he froze. Shepard was staring off into space with a look of pure contentment on her face. For the first time since he met her, she wasn't worried about what was happening or what was going to happen, she was just being. A deep thud in his chest alarmed him as he hastily stood up and grabbed his armor. "Thanks for the evening Shepard but I should be retiring to my room now." He wobbled as he turned and hastily left the room terrified of the emotions he was suddenly feeling for his commander._

Garrus took down several more men and silently reloaded his gun. From that moment on he'd been smitten by Commander Shepard. He'd began carefully watching her when she wasn't looking. He began to notice how the other men aboard looked at her, especially Lt. Alenko. Garrus growled softly and snapped his visor back into place. His jealousy even after all this time fueled him as he quickly shot down another group of misguided fools. Alenko had effortlessly captured their commander's heart. It was weird that Garrus should feel this way about the biotic considering it was not even a considered possibility that as a Turian he should have any feelings for his human commander. Master of diplomacy, Garrus never let on that he wanted to wring Kaidan's throat everytime Shepard's hand lingered on his forearm. The only one to ever notice was strangely enough Wrex. Wrex cornered him in engineering one day while Shepard was planetside. He bluntly asked Garrus his feelings toward Shepard and had laughed heartily when Garrus feebly admitted them. "Then go after her!" Wrex had almost roared. The krogan had seen no reason for Garrus to tell her that he was feeling less platonic toward her. It was strange for the krogan to be supportive of cross species romance and Garrus told him as much. Silence hung over them as Wrex considered his reply. "You take it where you can get it Vakarian. She's not exactly a beauty by either of our races' standards....but she has something to her. She has fire and strength. She's a good woman, a good leader, a good friend....human doesn't come into the mix."

The day their ship had been shot to pieces suddenly came to Garrus and he felt his throat clench. He'd watched the ship be torn apart with Shepard still inside. Alenko was sitting across from him shaking. He envied him at that moment, to be allowed to show the grief they both felt. "I'm sorry Lietenant" He spoke and Kaidan nodded, staring out the window. Garrus went back to C-Sec for a couple of months but he couldn't concentrate. There was something hollow and dark within him and he was becoming less and less patient with the red tape. He'd run. He was very different today from how he was that day so long ago that he'd met Shepard. Another group started across the barrier and he raised his scope to his eye and took aim. There in his crosshair was an angel. He was sure that he was imagining it because of his recent thoughts or maybe she was coming to gather him. As she pulled out her gun and began shooting his attackers in the back he smiled. "Shepard" he mumbled quietly and waited, he wasn't going to just sit back this time. He had a second chance and he wasn't going to let this one go.


End file.
